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Waratahs 2020

upthereds#!

upthereds#!

Ken Catchpole (46)
qwerty51 said:
He developed quite well in the NH. Good signing given we’re pretty lean at hooker.
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On paper got plenty of Hookers - but questionable quality.

I wonder if any of the other existing 4 will not come back - none of are whom are signed for 2021 (Abel, Tuala, Horton, Cotton)

Also available domestically.
Rebels - Jordan Uelese
Reds - Ed Craig
Free - Saia Fainga'a
 
Pass it to Dunning!

Pass it to Dunning!

Bob Loudon (25)
Uelese had a great Wallabies debut but has been so injury-prone that I don't think he's a wise investment. Fainga'a is probably worth signing so long as he's not too expensive.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Saia Fainga'a will be 34 when next season starts. I'd have Robbie Abel as the veteran again next year, retain Horton and Cotton as the youth projects and potentially see how Porecki works out. Not sure where Tuala fits. He seems to have really fallen down the pecking order.

I feel like you either sign someone who is a big improvement on what we've got or work within the constraints. I'm not really sure Fainga'a would be a big improvement.
 
upthereds#!

upthereds#!

Ken Catchpole (46)
Perhaps the Rebels would make more sense for Fainga'a if he's interested. Lost Rangi, so Fainga'a would be a good option off the bench.
 
molman

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
Blackadder said:
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...to-familiar-face-porecki-20200707-p559vk.html

Another hooker? And for 3 years.

Dave Porecki 180cm 106kg apparently.
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Not a bad pickup. Saw him play a little bit for Saracens and he was playing some decent footy for London Irish earlier this year Got the winning try against Northampton from memory. Nice to get one Aussie back from a team stacked with so many of our players. His time at Saracens should have been a real learning experience for his set piece work so hopefully he can bring some form to our scrums.
 
Up the Guts

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)
If we start Karmichael in the centres and Dempsey at 8, we should have a good shot against the Rebels. I think we actually have the best kicking game in the competition with Ramm and Maddocks having exceedingly long punts and Hunt and Harrison being deft tactical kickers. We looked to have worked out the 22/50 rule this week and with Simmons running one of the only functioning lineouts in the comp we might be able to do some damage against more favoured teams on paper.
 
KOB1987

KOB1987

Rod McCall (65)
Up the Guts said:
If we start Karmichael in the centres and Dempsey at 8, we should have a good shot against the Rebels. I think we actually have the best kicking game in the competition with Ramm and Maddocks having exceedingly long punts and Hunt and Harrison being deft tactical kickers. We looked to have worked out the 22/50 rule this week and with Simmons running one of the only functioning lineouts in the comp we might be able to do some damage against more favoured teams on paper.
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We play the Brumbies this week, or were you just commenting that the Rebels are a team we can beat generally?

They actually mentioned in the commentary the amount of kicking options we have in the backline and it was clearly part of our strategy. Wamberal had a whinge about it but I just rewatched the game and actually enjoyed it more the second time around because I was specifically looking at the strategy behind the kicking. There was one kicking duel 2 minutes into the second half which I think was what he was having a whinge about but it actually eventually resulted in 3 points to us. Of all the rest of the general kicks made by the Tahs there was only one that I noticed that we didn't get a net gain. It's an aspect of the Tahs game that other teams will need to be wary of.

I agree that Dempsey should come in for Harris and Harmichael needs to start. I'd also probably bush Walton out of thhe 23 altogether and give Tepai the start, and also maybe start Staniforth over Ned to add a bit of starch against the big Brumbies boys.
 
Up the Guts

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)
KOB1987 said:
We play the Brumbies this week, or were you just commenting that the Rebels are a team we can beat generally?

They actually mentioned in the commentary the amount of kicking options we have in the backline and it was clearly part of our strategy. Wamberal had a whinge about it but I just rewatched the game and actually enjoyed it more the second time around because I was specifically looking at the strategy behind the kicking. There was one kicking duel 2 minutes into the second half which I think was what he was having a whinge about but it actually eventually resulted in 3 points to us. Of all the rest of the general kicks made by the Tahs there was only one that I noticed that we didn't get a net gain. It's an aspect of the Tahs game that other teams will need to be wary of.

I agree that Dempsey should come in for Harris and Harmichael needs to start. I'd also probably bush Walton out of thhe 23 altogether and give Tepai the start, and also maybe start Staniforth over Ned to add a bit of starch against the big Brumbies boys.
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I just meant the Rebels in general (i.e. that’s the next game we have a good shot at in my opinion), the Brumbies will be tough but I give us more of a shot now than I did before the competition started.

The kicking duel was not well received where I was sitting (one more kick and I think the Tahs would have been booed by their own supporters). That said, we won it comfortably.

I think Penny will make the changes you have suggested. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s deliberately held back Dempsey and Hunt to give the younger guys a go. If we can turn the Brumbies big boys around with the kicking game we may be a chance. Of all the games so far we look to be the best coached team so I’m sure they’ll have some well laid plans. Geez I’d love to see Harrison lead us to victory over that mob in Canberra.
 
B

Bobby Sands

Guest
Can anyone tell me why Walton has a contract, and or what his strengths are?
 
molman

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
KOB1987 said:
I agree that Dempsey should come in for Harris and Harmichael needs to start. I'd also probably bush Walton out of thhe 23 altogether and give Tepai the start, and also maybe start Staniforth over Ned to add a bit of starch against the big Brumbies boys.
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I think in the modern game there is always value in thinking of the team as the 23 not just the starting 15. With that in mind I'm not sure that I'd shuffle all our impact players off the bench. There is also potentially fitness reasons for some of the players being given less minutes or starting from the bench. Do we have any insight as to when Lalakai Foketi is likely back? Jake Gordon too?
 
molman

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
Bobby Sands said:
Can anyone tell me why Walton has a contract, and or what his strengths are?
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Development player. Pushed up too soon (to my mind) due to lack of squad depth with Hunt and Foketi being injured. Tepai with question marks around.

He had some success at state/schools level. Showed some moments in the Waratah A's.
 
KOB1987

KOB1987

Rod McCall (65)
Apologies, I stand corrected, he wasn't one of the U20s players from last year. He was in the NSW Country NRC team though last year, at the age of 19. SO he must have caught someone's eye that's for sure.
 
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